JANE LEE
Assistant Sports Editor
For being ranked No. 11 in the nation, the Pepperdine baseball team had many expecting a quick sweep of UNLV in its opening series last weekend at Eddy D. Field Stadium. That wasn’t the case, however, as the Waves grabbed two out of three wins for the series victory.
And although most teams would gladly take two out of three games like the Waves did on any weekend, Pepperdine (2-1) knows it can do better than the series that Head Coach Steve Rodriguez called “a sluggish performance.”
“Naturally you’d like to sweep,” junior All-American catcher Chad Tracy said. “Overall we were pleased to have won two of three games, but there are definitely a few things to iron out.”
Missing from the list of things to iron out is Tracy’s bat, which singled home sophomore Adrian Ortiz with the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift the Waves to a 5-4 come-from-behind victory over the Rebels (1-2) on Friday in both team’s season-opener.
Ortiz, the Waves’ center fielder, opened the bottom of the ninth with a single through the left side, then successfully stole second and advanced to third when the Rebels’ pitcher threw a pick-off throw into center field.
With both UNLV’s infield and outfield playing in, Tracy hit a line drive near the left field line that landed in fair territory and easily scored Ortiz for the dramatic victory.
“I don’t think I’ve ever had a walk-off hit like that,” Tracy said. “It was an awesome experience, and it was great to help us get that first win.”
Also playing a major role in the victory was freshman right-hander Brett Hunter, who worked 1.2 innings of relief in his collegiate debut to earn his first career victory.
Hunter, who relieved senior James Johnson in the eighth and worked out of a bases-loaded jam to keep the score tied, said his debut as a Wave was quite the experience.
“It was a lot of fun,” Hunter said. “It’s definitely a little nerve-wracking, but at the same time I just thought of it as another game so it was good to just go in and shut them down.”
Earlier in the game, the Waves had rallied from 2-1 and 4-2 deficits to tie the score in the seventh inning on a two-out, two-run single by sophomore right fielder Donald Brown that scored senior second baseman David Uribes and Ortiz.
Brown, the Waves’ offensive spark throughout the weekend, led Pepperdine in the game by going 3-for-4 with two RBI.
Reigning West Coast Conference Pitcher of the Year Paul Coleman started for Pepperdine and worked six innings, allowing two runs on three hits while walking two and striking out four.
Both runs the senior left-hander allowed came on home runs by designated hitter Chad Miller and third baseman Xavier Scruggs.
Backed by six effective innings by left-hander Chris Saddoris, Scruggs would come back the following day to highlight a five-run fifth inning for the Rebels with a two-run home run to lead UNLV to a 6-3 victory over the Waves and even the series.
Before the nightmare that was the fifth inning, the Waves took a 2-0 lead on a run-scoring single by junior designated hitter Michael Beattie in the second inning and an RBI double by senior left fielder Brandon Daguio in the fourth.
UNLV’s rally against sophomore right-hander Barry Enright began when Enright hit Ryan Bird to open the inning. The Rebels’ CJ Lang then followed with a potential double-play ball to Pepperdine shortstop Danny Worth that was booted for an error and put runners at first and second with no outs.
With catcher Braden Walker at the plate, Enright picked Bird off second base as Lang moved up to second on the play. Walker then hit a double down the left field line that scored Lang and cut Pepperdine’s lead to 2-1.
After Scruggs followed with his second home run of the series that put the Rebels on top 3-2, Zach Borba grounded out for the second out of the inning before Ryan Kowalski and Mike Cruz followed with back-to-back singles that sent Enright back to the dugout.
Junior Robert Della Grotta relieved Enright but quickly released a wild pitch to Chris Bonnell that allowed both runners to move up to second and third base. Bonnell’s at-bat ended with a line drive to left field that scored both runners to give UNLV a 5-2 lead.
Brown continued his offensive surge in the bottom half of the fifth by hitting a triple to score Worth, who had reached base on an error, and give Pepperdine a run to make the score 5-3.
The final run of the day would come in the sixth inning when UNLV’s Bird hit a home run.
Although it was another frustrating day for the Waves, who stranded 11 runners on base including two in the ninth, Pepperdine saw another great performance by a youngster as sophomore right-hander Brian Ozols gave the team 2.2 hitless innings of relief while not walking a batter and striking out one.
“The young guys are huge,” Tracy said. “There’s quite a few of them that are going to play quite a bit, and it’s great that they’re getting the experience and helping us succeed in games.”
Rodriguez echoed the words of his catcher.
“They’re going to be huge for us,” he said. “We have high expectations of them, and even though it was the first weekend and it’s always hard to get the nervousness out, they did a great job.”
The young talent that Tracy and Rodriguez spoke of would come up big for the Waves in the rubber match game of the series, as freshman third baseman Chase d’Arnaud went 3-for-4 with two runs scored and a pair of RBI, and sophomore right-hander Adam Olbrychowski allowed just one run over five innings to give the Waves a series-clinching 8-2 victory over UNLV.
Early in the game Pepperdine took advantage of two Rebel errors, a pair of walks and two hits to grab the lead and end a short day’s work for UNLV starter Blake Gailen, who lasted just 1.2 innings.
Gailen faced eight batters, one of them being d’Arnaud, who highlighted a four-run second inning with a two-run double.
Brown, who finished the series 6-for-11 with three runs scored and four RBI, increased the Waves’ lead to 5-0 with a home run in the third before Pepperdine broke open the game with a three-run fourth inning, expanding its lead to 8-0.
The big hit in the inning came from Ortiz, who’s two-run double scored junior left fielder Luke Salas and d’Arnaud, who hit consecutive singles with one out. Ortiz then scored Pepperdine’s final run after stealing third and scoring on a wild pitch.
Olbrychowski, making just his second career start, allowed one run on six hits while walking two and striking out one in his five innings of work.
Sophomore right-hander Jason Dominguez surrendered one run on two hits in three innings against the Rebels while Hunter worked a scoreless ninth to close out the game.
“There were some definite good points of the series, but we know we’re a much better team than how we played,” Rodriguez said. “However, it’s always hard the first weekend of play.”
Hunter called the series “all right,” saying that the Waves “still have a long way to go.”
The Waves, however, are feeling good about their next three-game series, which will take place on the road against the Bulldogs at Fresno State’s Pete Beiden Field beginning Friday at 6:30 p.m.
“I’m confident we can do well against them,” Tracy said. “They’re a good team, and, even though they didn’t get off to a great start, they’re definitely a good challenge.”
Rodriguez just hopes his No.-11 team plays to match its rank.
“We’re going to be facing a better pitching staff than the one we faced against UNLV,” he said. “If we play as poorly as we did this weekend, we’re not going to like the results.”
02-09-2006